Mount Rushmore coming to life at Nixon library

George Washington would have been none too keen on the political divisions of today, said Gary Beard, of Tustin, at the Nixon Presidential Library & Museum on Sunday.

He should know. Beard, dressed in a replica of the first president's military uniform, complete with 76 golden buttons, has been taking on the reluctant leader's persona for decades. He's worked the room with other impersonators of former presidents at the Nixon library on President's Day for the past 15 years and will do so again today.

He'll be joined by Peter Small playing Teddy Roosevelt, who recently played along when asked Roosevelt's thoughts on politics in this day and age.

Q. What do you think of gun control?

A. Well, the Second Amendment says every state has the right to have a state militia and the right to bear arms. I am a gun owner, but I believe that along with rights comes responsibility.

Q. If you could appear on any political talk show, which one would it be and why?

A. I'd be happy to take the fight anywhere, any place.

Q. Any advice for President Obama?

A. Obama. Sounds like an Irishman. Next you'll be telling me a woman is secretary of state. De-lighted.

Think your Bull Moose Party could have a place in today's politics?

Our party was actually the strongest independent candidacy in American history ... You see, in my time, one of the things I had taken on was the great corporate trust. It wasn't corporations that I didn't trust, it was the evil in them.

The library's annual President's Day event comes as it celebrates what would have been Nixon's 100 birthday this year and the recent debut of an exhibit titled: "Patriot. President. Peacemaker."

John Steffes, 66, and his wife, Mary Ann, of Fond du Lac, Wis., came Sunday to the Nixon library, the only one they hadn't visited. Steffes, a Jimmy Carter and Harry Truman fan, said he counts Carter's library among the weakest (along with Herbert Hoover's and Gerald Ford's).